Justice: McCoy's arm, legs equally vital to UT's title shot

Commentary

Published 6:30 am, Monday, January 4, 2010

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy will have to run it some to keep Alabama defenders honest.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy will have to run it some to keep Alabama defenders honest.

Photo: BILLY CALZADA, San Antonio Express-News

Justice: McCoy's arm, legs equally vital to UT's title shot

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NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — By the time Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis finished explaining the complexities of pass protection Sunday morning, it seemed to fall somewhere between splitting an atom and carrying on a conversation with a teenage daughter.

His bottom line may be that no sportswriter can understand it all. He might be right about that. Besides, Texas has averaged 41 points a game this season, and Colt McCoy has completed 70.5 percent of his throws.

Texas is also 13-0 and playing for the national championship. If Texas is broken, a lot of other teams would love to be broken.

Still, the Longhorns seem to take huge chances by allowing their most important player to be hit so often. McCoy has been sacked 30 times, but sacks are only part of the story. Every quarterback gets hit, but some of the hits on McCoy were brutal.

Pass protection is an important issue for the Longhorns as they prepare to play Alabama on Thursday. McCoy was sacked nine times and hit at least six other times in the Big 12 Championship Game.

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Texas couldn’t block Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh, couldn’t run the ball, and needed a near-miracle field goal to win 13-12. That game exposed a flaw in a Texas team that’s otherwise almost flawless.

Bama loves the blitz

The Longhorns go as far as McCoy takes them, and when he gets hit, Texas is at risk. Now Texas is about to face an Alabama team that makes its living off hitting quarterbacks.

Bama has gotten 31 sacks from 13 different players. Defensive end Marcell Dareus leads the Tide with 6.5 sacks, but three others have at least four. Alabama has also hit opposing quarterbacks 79 times.

Texas goes into the game knowing Nick Saban will throw blitzes at them they’ve likely never seen before. One way to offset the blitz is to run the ball, but Texas has been inconsistent on the ground.

Texas at times seems more concerned with exotic pass routes than the basics. Why not keep a running back in for pass protection? Better still, why not have both a tight end and running back help out?

What’s the worst that can happen? That McCoy would have no one open and throw the ball away? Isn’t that better than allowing him to get his face smashed into the turf?

There were times against Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Nebraska that McCoy was slow getting to his feet. Doesn’t Davis see a national championship pass before his eyes every time McCoy gets hit?

Guessing game

“There’s a time and place for (maxiumum protection),” Davis said. “If you guess right, it’s great, and we did some in the Nebraska game. You’ve got maximum protection, and you’re throwing against one-on-one coverage. If you guess wrong and they drop eight players and you’ve got three guys going out, now the advantage goes back to them. It’s something you’ve got to use and pick your spots.”

Texas could slow down the blitz by running the ball, but the Horns have spent the entire season searching for a productive running game. Besides, as left tackle Adam Ulatoski pointed out, the Texas offense is built around McCoy. To commit to trying to win another way would neutralize UT’s best weapon.

“We have a great weapon in Colt McCoy,” Ulatoski said. “That’s where we’re going to make a lot of the money. We’re not going to just foresake Colt McCoy’s ability and the receivers’ ability just to run the ball. I feel we just have to step up and pass-protect.”

McCoy will have to run it some to keep Bama defenders honest. He averaged six rushes against UT’s’ seven weakest opponents. But he averaged 16 against A&M, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

He’ll be running again Thursday. At least that’s the message Davis delivered to him Sunday morning.

“He said, ‘You might have to use your feet a little bit this week. You might run four or five draws,’ ” McCoy said. “If we stay ahead of the chains, if we get 4 yards on first down, that will limit some of what they can do. When you find yourself in second-and-long, third-and-long, they can do anything. They can come after you. It’s a nightmare when you get in those situations.”

McCoy knows there will be blitz packages he hasn’t seen before, and he knows his rushing yardage may be as important as his passing yardage.

“If I have to run the ball 40 times and we win,” he said, “that’s what I’ll do.”